14 Jun 2008

The Guru - Interview with Paradox Olbers -

I meet Paradox Olbers today in his Spindrift – the zen bayou, a perfect place to meet the man known as My Guru. The fish are jumping, and the surface of the water gleams in a richness that underscores this sim. Paradox has given us a great gift in his creation of The SpinDome…The following is an interview we did over this past weekend.P: Am I supposed to be in a hushed state? Cause this is referentially gorgeous.Paradox Olbers: Offers snapshotP: my gosh the refection on the water is so richParadox Olbers: yeah - jacked my graphics to max I usually drop my cam down on water and see reflections up close to relaxP: mmm lovelyParadox Olbers: the gators aren’t dangerous P:P: you must have just fed them then, I have an important question for you- what do you think of my hair?SilenceParadox Olbers: your hair look good!P: speechless isnt a good sign when you say things like do i look fat in those jeansParadox Olbers: lol - no male will ever answer the jeans q P: no male in his right mind or born of woman that isP: I think the hair is cool I like it enough for both of us. So You’re off the hook-okay we can start since you arent going to talk about my hairParadox Olbers: hah! got the fish in this oneParadox Olbers gave you Spindrift - zen bayou 3, Spindrift.Paradox Olbers: scripted flying fishParadox Olbers: see, they should be underwaterParadox Olbers: but it’s too shallow here - but i love them actually flying lolP: it has the just below the surface element in this picture that is thrilling & enthralling bothP: only flies in in shllow water?Paradox Olbers: exactly re subsurfaceP: ha sounds like the title of a storyP: great fireP: perfect place to talk to the GuruParadox Olbers: aha!P: in the zen garden by the seaParadox Olbers: a perfect segueP: our small drift of tranquilityP: Tell me the story of your sciland then your spindrift-Paradox Olbers: I’ve beenma lifelong reader and astronomy/sf fan all my life. So all i ever did was have fun by looking for sci/tech infoand fell into Second LifeP: why what did that give you ?P: why the outer regions of space?Paradox Olbers: A lifelong love of looking for new sci/tech infoP: how long did it take you to find the science community here?& what were in your first searches?Paradox Olbers: my mother was a science fiction and fantasy fan, as well a lover of astronomy: Interesting story there re how i found stuff in sl I paid for my avs in July 2006, but didn’t have broadband til Nov - a: long stretch so I read up on sl in M2, sl forums, and New World Notes. I made a list of interesting sounding placesP: New World Notes is a terrific site, I would love to get Au on the show, think his element might be Gold. Great so you did the background research before the actual entry?Paradox Olbers: yep, a hundred days to prepare for slP: like a flight prepParadox Olbers:I came in by way of gamasutra.com and http://seriousgamessource.com they kept mentioning secondlife.comP: Yes its getting pretty ubiquitousParadox Olbers: and after i heard about ISM, it became my first spotP: International Space MuseumParadox Olbers: I skipped orientation, left there for Spaceport AlphaP: That was that your first touchdown & history beginsP: did anything scare you about this new world?Paradox Olbers: no fear, since i’m still in rl P: some people get somewhat offended by referencing Sl as a game. Yet its funny people never got offended by the game of Life by parker brothersParadox Olbers: users divide between casual users and gamers, anda smaller “user” group, centering around education and other special interests like sci/techn/egineeringP: its not a traditional game no- & there is no win per se- okay so you would define Sl as a user group?:Paradox Olbers: offended? Because they don’t take it seriously, I suppose

Paradox Olbers: let them enjoy sl how they want, but no need to dismiss [aha! diff between calling sl a game OR *dismissing* it as one]P: the more seriously you take it & the more you give to it the more you get out of itParadox Olbers: there is no “winning” as in a numerical score, but the scoring systemP: but the rewards are really the same as in real life in some waysthe friends, the relationships, what one can produce, even feelings- the quality of life as opposed to quantityParadox Olbers: includes: teamwork, respect from colleagues, sense of accomplishment at doing projects, etcP: its a quality of life game & not quantity of scoreParadox Olbers: exactly re quality of lifeP: people play real life for quantity too & I ask is it a better one IDK?Paradox Olbers: and I agree re rewards same as rl: sl is a non zero-sum game & more gets created: so no one has to “lose” energy or objects/resources or dieP: & in that there is the infinity of all what we as humans can offerWe don’t really have a leaderboardYet I say that & laugh as the best of SL awards is tonight I think ppl still love their awardsParadox Olbers: Yes, but our “scoring system”can be quite varied from av to avP: Still we do seek whatever glory we need in diff ways yesParadox Olbers: but this “Best Of” is a choice, not required, so it’s av-driven, not environment-drivenP: irl there are celebrity magazines & the entertainment oriented newsw-Paradox Olbers nodsP: we play here for ourselves mainly I really couldn’t imagine a full gossip mag here. Like Pictures of Mitch Kapoor & his new squeeze in the Bali sim -P: we are too much a part of the life we pursue here, too intensely involved with our own very real second lives.Paradox Olbers: like everywhere else in rl and VWs [Virtual Worlds], there is a fragmented set of audiences, not a few mass categories anymore so less room for big mags to survuveP: & irl they doParadox Olbers: since narrowcasting/niche zines/websites/blogs/etc fill our needs more efficientlyP: I couldn’t imagine what kind of celebrity worship could go on in here - so the human here is more interested in what we actually doParadox Olbers: oh, I’ve heard that people call others “gurus?: and suchP: Not in any kind of celebrity whom we don’t know, who our second lives do not involve. Sometimes I will look at someones profile I don’t know out of curiosity about my new species& well YOU are of great interest to Miss Pooky indeedParadox Olbers: oh I see your pointP: it goes with what you said about narrow castingParadox Olbers: yes, we form reputations more often on personal interactionsP: but irl we dont have that as muchParadox Olbers: and friends’ recommendationsP: You did take a chance to offer me the dome, in that you took your own counsel & I am forever grateful you did - it is something I consider an honor to live up toParadox Olbers: and you see, since the SpinDome is in SL, I ran no riskP: you did take a chance with me as you didn’t know me except that i was moved by the passing of Arthur c Clarkes deathParadox Olbers: well, I’m delighted so far - you’ve introduced the SpinDome to a whole new audience!P: Which his tribute we also have to discuss at some pointWhat are your hopes for the sSpindrift isle?Paradox Olbers: For Spindrift? That i can expand its presentation of space, astronomical art, and data visualization models and methodsP: do you think that because we alreday suspend some belief in here that we are more opne to learning?Paradox Olbers: …and have huge fun and learning from it for myself and all of us here. P: in other words- irl we say oh that’s too hard I cant do or learn at hatParadox Olbers: For some of us, absolutely,P: remarkable how we do accept this is the 3d worldits really just flat. For example irl I know I have thought I have those limits & of course if you say to yourself I cant do it you cantParadox Olbers: but on this flatworld, we have 3DP: we accept we suspend our belief in that limitationParadox Olbers: nod, self-imposed limits are hardest to beatP: & as we suspend our belief in that limitation we also suspend our belief that we are limited.Paradox Olbers: A story bout that -Someone went looking for me online decade ago, couldn’t find me. I said “didn’t you try looking for {my bookstore]/”Paradox Olbers: “But that was *years* ago and I knew you didnt do that anymore!”: …But i knew old friends/customers had no other keywords for me, so I’d included those metatags in the html,P: ah hA! so you left always in your blogs the trail for themParadox Olbers: and he could have found me! But he voluntarily limited himself without cause [ a free search, after all!]P: how did he find you?Paradox Olbers: he ran into me in rl in Boston! but years laterEver since, i leave the internet breadcrumbs out. And i try not to box myself in with unnecessary cages.P: especially of your own devicesP: Are there any real life person you have tried to get into SlParadox Olbers: a few friends, yes, but they don/t have good enough vid cards [laptops have this prob] or think they’d spend too much time here. P: can one spend too much time here? As a persons life is choiceParadox Olbers: oh look the flying fish again! Yes, more than 24 hours a day here is harmful.P: I would have to agree with thatParadox Olbers: they flickered away [the fish]P: I am looking for a few more hours in the day, know anywhere IParadox Olbers: not legally, and the time patrol arrests u.P: Amagad The time patrol - of course what happens is the time patrol comes to arrest you but then falls in love with this place gets a secret avatar & winds up having to arrest themselvesParadox Olbers: yes, my first Time Patrol story was one of Poul Anderson’s famed series - back in 1950sP: Which is a comment on how one has to “police” oneselfParadox Olbers: nod re policing -.- PKDick did that hilariously in “A Scanner Darkly.” Scanner Darkly is a 1970s classic about the agent assigned to himself. Be warned, [missing part-insert] this novel is a gloomy and moving look at what drugs did to PKD and his friends.P: There are certainly elements of that here, but leave that for another conversation. Thank you.Paradox Olbers: My pleasure

1 comment:

No doubt,an amazing piece of writing.loved the way the blogger showcased the world we are living in.paradox olbers love reading info about astronomy,sci/tech,and the best part he fell into a second life while reading it.i never met such a man but while reading the conversation it felt like that this conversation is taking place in the real world.

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